PESHAWAR: Summary sent by the Health department to Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice Retd Dost Muhammad Khan for establishment of new Pharmacy Directorate has been approved by the CM.

In wake of the current amendments in drug sale rules, the workload on the Directorate General Health Service (DGHS) had increased to the extent that management of all services including procurement of quality medicines, human resource involved, quality manufacturing, having control on the deluge of spurious drugs in the market, inspection of pharmaceutical firms to ensure quality manufacturing, drug testing and provision of clinical services related to drugs at the hospitals level were nearly impracticable for the current directorate to manage under a single roof said the officials on Wednesday.

All of the difficulties faced in the path of good pharmaceutical care to the patients and community lead the department to think and establish a new directorate known to be a "Directorate of drug control and Pharmacy services".

This directorate will not only help in minimizing the burden upon the current directorate of general health services but will also alleviate the conflict of interest which sometimes creates in case of drug control as the drug inspectors working under the same hierarchy has to direct his own boss for rectification if there is violation of the drug Act.

Similarly, the pharmacy related services will be improved as the skilled pharmacists, drug inspectors, drug analysts will work under the command of directors with similar knowledge but with high qualifications and vast experience.